Filament transfer and mounting apparatus for lamp stems



FILAMENT TRANSFER'AND MOUNTING APPARATUS FOR LAMP STEMS Filed Jan. 31,1947 May 20, 1952 H. B. MALONEY 4 Sheets-Sheet l mmvrozz. r9 5. Ma loneg Hen BY iam-kwq/ ATTO PNEV y 1952 H. B. MALONEY 2,597,354

FILAMENT TRANSFER AND MOUNTING APPARATUS FOR LAMP STEMS Filed Jan. 31,1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 g INVENTOR.

BY Henry B. Na/oney ATTOPNE Y y 1952 H. B. MALONEY 2,597,354

FILAMENT TRANSFER AND MOUNTING APPARATUS FOR LAMP STEMS Filed Jan. 31,1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 U 8 v/ 2 O A I 6 M/ RMM o 5 ma R 5 0 U. H W .w i 5A w mm W 3 n M NJ A H 2 W 9 V. 5 L B 0 i A F May 20, 1952 H. B. MALONEY2,597,354

FILAMENT TRANSFER AND MOUNTING APPARATUS FOR LAMP STEMS Filed Jan. 51.1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR. fienry B. Na/oneg ATTORNEY Patented May20, 1952 FILAMENT TRANSFER AND MOUNTING APPARATUS FOR LAMP STEMS HenryB. Maloney, Lynn, Mass assignor to Sylyania Electric Products Inc Salem.Mass., a

corporation of Ma ssachusetts Application January 31, 1947, Serial No.725,417

. ,7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to .a mechanism; for transferring a lamp filamentfrom a stack of filaments to working position on alamp stem assembly andparticularly to such a mechanism for use with a looped or U-shapedfilament.

The mechanism of the invention provides automatic means for feedingfilaments one by one rapidly to working position uponthe stem. assemblywith its ends connected tolead wires; In addition to feeding thefilaments the mechanism forms them into a loop or U-shape from astraight filament. V

The object of the invention is to feed. lamp filaments automatically andat a rapid rate to filament mounting devices which operatev on lamp.

stems fed successively into; filament mounting position. I

A further object of the invention isto provide means for feedingfilaments to lamp stems with consistent precision and withoutdamage tothe.

filaments.

Other objects and features of ,theinvention will more fully appear from.the following description and will be particularly pointed out in theclaims.

The mechanism consists in general of a chute or guideway over which thefilamenttravels by gravity after having been lifted from a stackoffilaments and dropped thereon.

At the base of the chute the filamententers.

fingers are provided with means to grip the filament at its ends such asby suction means.

The fingers are mounted on swinging. arms which are so pivotedand moved.thatthe filament is carried away from the'supporting groove, formedinto a loop and presented to a stem with the ends of the filament. inposition to be secured to the lead wires thereof.

Means are provided at this time to secure .the filament to the leadwires as by pinching the bent tips of the lead wires onto the filament.

The stem is then moved tosubsequentstations where the filament isfurther processed. to its finished form.

To present a better understanding of the invention a particularembodimentthereof will be described and is illustratedinthe-accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sideelevation of the apparatus partially in section;

Figure 2 is a front elevation ofthe apparatus;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the filament forming and transfer device;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary side elevationofthe device shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged detail of afilament suction holding finger;

.member 5 by means of an angle block 1.

. Figure 6 is a diagrammatic perspective view illustratingv thepresentation of the filament to .the leadwires;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary front view of the means for endwisepositioning of the filament;

lamp stems or the like to filament mounting position. Such a machine maybe that presented in the copending application relating to AutomaticLamp Stem Fabricating Apparatus filed in the names of Roland M. Gardner,Stanley J. Gartner, and Edwin W. Barrett and bearing the Serial Number637,440.

The means for picking an individual filament [from a plurality offilaments may be of any construction and constitutes no part of thepresent-invention. As herein shown an arm having pincer-like fingers Iand 2 is manipulated to pick a single filament from a container 3 havinga plurality of filamentsd therein.

The mechanism for transferring a filament from a container to the stemto which it is applied, may be mounted directly upon the stemfabricating machine or it can be mounted on .aseparate support orstand.As shown herein the mechanism is supported upon a portion 5 of themainframe of the fabricating machine.

Any suitable supporting means may be used. As

shown a supporting bracket 6 is secured to the The bracket 6 has mountedthereon a device for actuating a battery of filament containers which isnot part of the present invention. The bracket also has secured theretoa main frame 8.

. The frame 8 has slidably mounted thereon a .carrier mechanism fortransferring filaments one at a time to a lamp stem or the like movedinto filament mounting position with its axis upon the working axis 9.The carrier In is received in a horizontal guideway II in the upperportion of theframe 8 and is provided with filament receiving andmanipulating means.

For reasons which will appear hereinafter it is desirablethat, aslight-degree of friction be applied to the carrier [0 at the guidewayto retardits movement therein. To do this a leaf spring 12 is insertedin ways bearing against the. member If). The-front or leading end of thecarrier I!) is provided with an upstanding boss '13 to which arevertically pivoted a pair of swinging filament formers M which arelaterally spaced and present upwardly extending suction filament 60.gripping fingersnormally situated at the ends of a filament which hasbeen delivered to a receiving groove |6 in a plate I! secured to anupright l8 extending upward from the member ID. The details of themembers M will be described subsequently.

A filament is fed to the groove l6 from a device which receives andaligns it as it is dropped by the fingers and 2. When dropped thefilament falls by gravity upon an inclined plate l9 secured to the frame8 from where it is received in a substantially V-shaped trough formed bythe plate Hi and a plate or plates 20. During the non-feeding portion ofits cycle the trough structure retains and aligns the filament. Asliding gate member 2| at this time closes the bottom of the trough. Thegate 2| is slidably mounted on the bottom of a plate 22 which is securedalong one of its sides to a rigid bracket 23 extending downward alongone side of the member Band is rigid with the frame 8.

The plate 22 extends over the end close to the carrier. Desirably thetrough is made adjustable in length to provide for proper handling ofthe filaments as they move down into the trough structure. A suitablestructure is shown to lengthen or shorten the trough and consists of apair of blocks 24 which are adjustable simultaneously toward and awayfrom each other by means of a spindle 25 having right and left handthreads respectively engaging the two blocks. The spindle 25 is heldagainst axial movement and is rotated to vary the length of the trough.The blocks are held in their guiding slot 26 by means of a leaf spring21 which is backed up by a retaining member 28 secured to the plate 22.

The gate 2| projects outward and down from the back of the plate 22 toprovide an extension 30. The plate 2| has a spring 29 connected to movethe plate into position to close the trough.

The downward extension 30 of the gat is engaged by a screw 3| havingthreaded engagement in a post 32 secured to the carrier ID. The screw 3|is so adjusted that it engages the portion 36 of the gate and opens thetrough to permit a fila- 'ment to pass through at the end of theretractive or inward movement of the carrier l0.

As above pointed out the pick up members M are pivoted on the frontportion l3 of the carrier l0. Desirably these members are generally C-shaped and embrace oppositely disposed cars 33 on the portion |3 of thecarriage l0. Pivot pins 34 pass vertically through the members 4 and theears 33 and permit the members l4 to swing substantially 100 from theirpick up position shown in Figure 1 into delivery position shown inFigure 4. Movement of the members I4 is limited in their deliveryposition by stop screws 35 which engage opposite sides of a central stopboss 36 integral with the carrier l6 while their pick up position isdetermined by stop screws 31. The filament is thus given a substantiallyhorseshoe shape with its ends bent slightly inward toward each otherwhich aids in placing the filament ends within the looped or hook shapedends the lead wires 18 as shown in Figure 4.

Suitable means is provided for actuating the members l4. As illustratedin the drawings each of the members I4 is provided with a bifurcatedrearward projection 38 within which is pivotally received a link 39 theopposite end of which is connected to a common pivot pin 40 projectingupward from the square outer end of a slide member 4|. The inner end ofthe member 4| is cylindrical and slidably received in the base of thepost 32.

The means for driving the slide 4| also drives the carrier Ill. Thedriving means illustrated consists of a bell crank lever 42 f-ulcrumedupon the frame 8 at 43. The arm 44 of the lever is pivotally connectedto a link 45 which in turn is pivoted to a lever 46 fulcrumed upon theshaft 41. The lever 46 is provided with a roll 48 which engages a cam 49which in turn is contoured to produce the required movement of themembers I0 and 4|. The arm 50 of the lever 42 extends upward anddesirably is provided with one or more slots 5| in its upper end withinwhich is received the rolls 52 pivoted upon opposite sides of thesquared portion of the slide 4|. Desirably the end of the arm 50 isbifurcated to embrace both sides of the member 4|.

The roll 48 is held against the cam 49 by means of a spring 53 connectedat one end to the lever 46 and at its other end to a fixed arm 54secured to the fulcrum shaft 41. The cam thus moves the carrier awayfrom the working axis 9 while the spring moves it in its oppositedirection during which time the filament is transferred. In operationthe initial motion outward of the lever arm 50 acts through the link 39to swing the members |4 into looping position and further motion of thelever moves the whole carrier toward the working axis as will bedescribed in more detail hereinafter.

The members M are provided with suction pick up fingers 55 which arevertically movable therein and extend upward therefrom having V slots intheir upper ends which are normally disposed in alignment with oppositeends of the V- slot |6 in the plate H. The upper ends of the fingers 55are provided with vacuum ducts which open into the V-slot at their upperends and into which are led flexible vacuum lines 56 which in turn areconnected to a vacuum pump not shown.

The fingers 55 extend through vertical apertures in the members l4 andalso have a portion extending below the members l4. These bottomextensions 51 closely approach the upper fiat surface 58 of an actuator59, the operation of which will subsequently be described.

Means is provided to accurately position the filament longitudinally inits groove |6 before it is delivered to the stem. To do this a pair ofrelatively short positioning fingers 60 are pivoted upon lateralextensions of the post l8. The upper ends of the fingers 66 are providedwith adjustable filament contact members which are situated to engagethe ends of a filament in the groove I6. The fingers 60 are moved awayfrom filament locating position by means of a :pair of links 6|connected at one end to the fingers and at their other end to a head 62fixed upon a vertical rod 63. The rod 63 is vertically movable in anaperture in the portion l3 of the carrier Ill. The lower end of rod 63extends below the carriage H and is provided with a head 64 which inturn i provided with a shoulder 65 which interlocks with a projection 66on a block 61 secured to the actuator 59.

As shown in the drawings in Figure 1 the actuator 59 is in its raisedposition at which time the rod 63 is also raised which in turn moves thefingers outward away from their filament locating position. Motion istransmitted to the actuator 59 in any suitable manner such as by meansof a cam 68 mounted on a cam shaft 69 which is one of the main camshafts of the whole stem fabricating machine. The cam 68 acts through asuitable follower and lever I0 to actuate a link 1| connecting the leverto a rod 12 movable in a vertical aperture 13 in a projection of theframe 8. The actuator 59 is rigidly secured upon the end of the rod 12and ismoved thereby. The rod 12 and actuator 59 are prevented-fromrotation by a rod 14 parallel to-the rod 12 and secured at its upper endto the actuator 59 and arranged to move in an aperture in the frame 8.

When the elements of themechanism are in the position shown in Figure 1the gate 2| has just released a filament into the slot It by reason ofthe engagement of the screw 3| engaging the portion 39 of the gate. Atthis time the highest portion 15 of the cam 66 has raised the actuator59 to its maximum height. The cam 68 then lowers the actuator'whichpulls down the rod 63, by reasonof the engagement of shoulder 65 withthe projection 66, to move the positioning levers 69 into engagementwith the ends or" the filament to accurately position it lengthwise inits slot It.

At this time a cam mounted on one of the cam shafts acts to open avacuum valve leading to the vacuum lines 58 which grips the ends of thefilament in the fingers 55. During the above operations the fingers areheld in their downward positions by springs 16 surrounding'the fingers,bearing at one end against the upper wall of apertures in which they arereceived and at their other ends against shoulders A upon the fingers.The downward position of the fingers is limited by a block B secured tothe members it which engage a shoulder C on the fingers.

The cam 49 now acts through the lever 42 to move the slide 4| to theright which swings the pick up members I i through substantially 100 ofare which forms the filament into horseshoe form shown in Figure 3. Whenthe stop screws 85 in the members l4 engage the projection 38 furthermovement of the lever 42 moves the carriage H toward the stem axis 9upon which the stem 11 is held. The stem is provided with a pair of leadwires 18. During this motion of the carrier the filament is raised intoposition with its ends adjacent and above the ends of lead wires 18.Raising of the filament is accomplished by the action of the cam 68which raises the actuator 59 against the bottom of the fingers 55 whichslide upon the surface 58. The cam 68 then acts to lower the actuator 59'which'acts to lower the fingers 55 and the filament. This downwardmovement of the filament causes the ends thereof to enter the loopedends 19 of the lead wires. The fingers 55 are then moved downfurther bythe cam 68 at which time the vacuum cam cuts oil the vacuum at thefingers which clear the lead wires.

At this time a pair of clamping devices 89 are moved into clampingposition. Each of the clamping devices are provided with means forpinching the lead wires upon the filament ends. Any suitable means maybe employed to pinch the lead wires. As shown in Figure 8 each device isprovided with fixed jaws 8| upon a supporting frame 82 and coactingmovable jaws 89. The movable jaws are pivoted upon the frame 82. Thejaws 83 are normally held out of operation by springs 84. To move thejaws into clamping position an actuator lever '85 is provided. The lever85 is pivoted on the frame at 86 and is moved upward by means of aplunger 81 guided in the frame and actuated by a cam 88 on a cam shaft89:0. As the lever 85 moves upward it engages the jaws 63 which aremoved thereby to clamp the filament to the looped ends of the lead wires18 thus securing the -filament mechanically and electrically in working}position.

- tending horizontally from the frame 8.

Since, upon the stem machine to which the invention is'applied theremoving of a stem to which a filament has been added and replacement ofanother is accomplished by indexing them in a horizontal plane, meansmust be provided to move the clamping members out of the path of thestems during indexing. This may be done in any suitable manner. As shownthe supporting frame 82'moves vertically upon a pair of fixed rods 89.

' The-top of the rods 89 are provided with a stop shoulder 90 whichengages the stop shoulder 9| on the frame. 82 when the clamps 89 are inclamping position. The throw of the cam88 is sufiicient to raise andlower the frame 82. The plunger 81 has a spring 92 thereon backed by acollar at one end and engaging the bottom of the frame 82 at its otherend. The'spring is kept under a slight tension by a stop pin 93 securedin the frame and engaging the top of a slot 94 in the plunger. Startingwith the member 80 in down position it is'moved upward by the plunger byengagement of the spring 92 with the member 82. When the member 82 isstopped further travel of the plunger 81 compresses the spring 92 andthe plunger acts to push the lever 85 upward to clamp the filament tothe lead wires. Desirably the upward travel of the lever 85 is limitedby an adjustable stop screw'96. Excess travel of the plunger if present,is compensated for by a relatively heavy spring 95 introduced ibetweensections of the plunger. Thus damage to the mechanism is prevented andextremely accurate adjustment of the cam throw is not required.

The stem is then carried to additional fabricating stations forcompletion and another stem moved into filament mounting position.During filament forming and mounting operations the block 65 hasdisengaged from the projection 66 on the actuator 59. The spring 91 isthus permitted to maintain the fingers 60 in their inactive position. Atthe end of the filament mounting operation the carrier I9 is returned bythe cam 99 to pick up another filament. During the return of thecarriage the cam 66 acts to raise the actuator 59 to its upper positionandas the carrier reaches its pick up position the shoulder 65 on theblock 64 assumes a position to reengage the projection 66. The abovecycle of operations is then repeated to mount another filament.

Accurate determination of the travel of the carriage may be obtained inany desired manner. As illustrated herein the carriage is provided witha downwardly extending stop 98. This stop extends into the path of apair of adjustable stop nuts 99 and H19 which have threaded engagementwith a rod I8! rigidly secured in and ex- At the inner limit of thecarrier .travel the stop 98 strikes the stop nut I98 and when at itsouter or delivery position the stop 98 engages the nut 99. By properlyadjusting the nuts 99 and 100 accurate travel of the carriage is.obtained. Desirably the nut I98 is first adjusted to provide thecorrectbackward stop position of the carriage after which the throw of thecam49 :is adjusted to produce this travel of'the carriage by adjusting thelength of the link .45. Any suitable means may be employed for thispurpose. The delivery position of the carriage is. then criticallyadjusted by the nut 99. Anyxexcess'motion occasioned by the throw of thelow portion of the cam simply causes the lever follower 48 to leave the:cam because the inwardi travel of the carrier is 7 powered by thespring53 anchored to the fixed arm 54 and to the link 45 at its other end.

What I claim is:

1. In a lamp stem fabricating apparatus havin means to hold a stem withits lead wires thereon upon a working axis, a mechanism for formin andmounting the filament upon the lead wires comprising a supporting frame,a trough-like receptacle in which a filament is received, a gate at thebottom of the trough, a carrier below said trough slidable on said frameinto receiving and delivering positions, means to open said gate whenthe carrier is in receiving position thereby to drop a filament ontosaid carrier, means on the carrier to grip and form the filament intosubstantially U-shaped form, means to move the carrier into deliveringposition with the filament ends adjacent said lead wires and means tosecure the filament to the lead wires.

2. In a lamp stem assembling apparatus having means to hold a stem,including lead wires, on aworking axis and means to pick a singlefilament from a plurality thereof, a mechanism for forming andpresenting filaments to the stem com prising a supporting frame, a fixedshute secured to said frame upon which filaments are dropped. a gate atthe bottom of said shute, a carrier member slidable on said frame intofilament receiving and delivering positions, a groove in the carrier inwhich said filament is received from the shute, means to open said gateto release a filament into said groove, a pair of filament formingmembers pivoted on said carrier and having a pair of pick up fingerssituated at the ends of said groove when the carrier is in receivingposition, means on the fingers to grip the filament, means to swing saidfilament formers to form the filament into U-shape, means to move thecarriage into delivery position with the filament ends adjacent the leadwires, and means to secure the filaments to the lead wires.

3. In a lamp stem fabricating machine having means to hold a stem, withhooked ended lead wires, upon a working axis, a mechanism for formingand mounting a filament upon the stem comprising a supporting frame, atrough-like receiver secured to said frame having an opening at itsbottom through which a filament may pass horizontally, a gate closingthe aperture, a carrier below said trough slidable upon the frame fromreceiving to delivering position, a groove in said carrier, means toopen said gate to release a filament into said groove, filament formerspivoted on said carrier having filament gripping fingers, meansconnected to said carrier moving means and operable to move the filamentformers into filament forming position, means to lower said grippingfingers when the carrier is in delivery position to place the filamentends into the hooked ends of the said lead wires and means to clamp thelead wires upon the filament.

4. In a lamp stem fabricating machine having means to hold a lamp stem,with lead wires, upon a working axis, a mechanism for forming andmounting a filament upon said stem comprising a trough-like receiverhaving an opening in the bottom thereof through which a filament inhorizontal position may pass, a gate closing the aperture, a carrierbelow said trough to receive and deliver a filament to its stem, agroove in said carrier below said gate when the carrier is in receivingposition, means to open the gate to drop a filament into said groove,filament formers pivoted on said carrier and having filament grippingfingers operable to grip the ends of the filament, a common actuatingmeans to cause said formers to bend the filament into a generally U-shaped form and move the carrier into position with the filament endabove the hooked end of the lead wires, means to lower the filament intomounting position and means to secure the filament to the lead wires.

5. In a lamp stem fabricating apparatus having means to hold a stemhaving lead wires, upon a working axis, a filament transfer and mountingapparatus comprising: a frame; a container mounted on said frame andhaving a plurality of filaments therein; a carrier slidably mounted onsaid frame beneath said container; means for feeding filamentsindividually from said container to said carrier; a pair offilament-positioning fingers pivotally mounted on said carrier andmovable into end-on engagement with the ends of a filament on saidcarrier; filament-gripping fingers mounted on said carrier and movableinto gripping engagement with a filament on said carrier; means formoving said filament-gripping fingers with a filament held thereby topresent the filament ends to the lead wires; and means for securing thefilament to the lead wires.

6. In a lamp stem fabricating apparatus having means to hold a stem,having lead wires upon a working axis, a filament transfer and mount ingapparatus comprising: a fixed positioning receptacle to receive a singlefilament; a movable carrier below said receptacle; means for releasingthe filament from said receptacle to said carrier; a pair offilament-positioning fingers pivotally mounted on said carrier andmovable into end-on engagement with the ends of the filament on saidcarrier; filament-gripping fingers mounted on said carrier and movableinto gripping engagement with the filament on said carrier; means formoving said filament-gripping fingers with a filament held thereby topresent the filament ends to the lead wires of the stem; and means forsecuring the filament to the lead wires.

7. In a lamp stem fabricating apparatus having means to hold a stem,having lead wires, upon a working axis, a filament transfer and mountingapparatus comprising: a filament positioning receptacle; a movablecarrier below said receptacle; means for releasing a filament from saidreceptacle to said carrier; a pair of filament-positioning fingerspivotally mounted on said carrier and movable into end-on engagementwith the ends of the filament on said carrier; gripping fingers mountedon said carrier for holding the ends of the filament; means for swingingsaid fingers in an arcuate path to bend the filament into U shape form;means for moving the carrier to present the filament ends to the leadwires; and means for securing the filament to the lead wires.

HENRY B. MALONEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,733,802 Higgins Oct. 29, 19291,733,831 Illingworth Oct. 29, 1929 1,733,881 Illingworth Oct. 29, 19291,742,966 Miller Jan. 7, 1930 1,801,119 Soepnel Apr. 14, 1931 1,816,683Ledig July 28, 1931 1,821,894 Otaka Sept. 1, 1931 1,907,532 Flaws May 9,1933 2,370,828 Widmont Mar. 6, 1945

